Topics: Roads, highways and transportation

HARWICH — Selectmen on Monday night paved the way for the sale of the Freedom Ferry when they voted to allow the transfer of the ferry slip at Saquatucket Harbor to the proposed new owner, Jack Sheeran of Chatham. Sheeran also received the approval to transfer the vessel's Class F permit.
An opinion from town counsel Matthew G. Feher of KP Law stated the Harwich Harbor Management Plan makes “clear that any tra...

ORLEANS — Town meeting said no to a $75,000 survey of Beach Road that would have allowed further consideration of laying out the route to Nauset Beach as a public way, potentially building a “Safe Pedestrian Sidewalk” along it. On a voice vote, the petitioned article fell short of the required three-fourths majority.
“Beach Road is bigger than the residents on Beach Road,” Katy Day told town meeting as she u...

CHATHAM — When it comes to the plan to widen Route 28 at the intersection of Crowell, Depot and Queen Anne roads, selectmen are tapping the brakes.
On Monday, engineer Keri Pyke of Howard/Stein-Hudson showed selectmen a new design that includes a modern traffic signal coupled with turning lanes and bike lanes on Route 28 west of the crossroads, but with less road widening on the east side of the intersection...

CHATHAM — With the weather feeling decidedly more spring-like, people are getting out their bicycles, dusting them off and hitting the pavement. But town officials have had bikes on the brain for the last year or so, and have unveiled an ambitious bicycle master plan that recommends millions of dollars of improvements over the coming years.
“The heart of the plan is a list of 25 discrete projects,” bikeways ...

CHATHAM — The name “Old Colony Rail Trail” is a nice tribute to the railroad that once serviced Harwich and Chatham, but it doesn’t communicate some key information: where the trail goes.
“I see bikers between Thompson’s Field and [Route] 137 looking at maps and trying to figure out where they are,” Harwich bikeways committee member Shanna Nealy said. Nealy and her group met last week in a rare joint session...

CHATHAM — Critics of the West Chatham Route 28 reconstruction plan say they believe the project will take much longer than advertised to complete, impacting local businesses and traffic through 2021 or later.
The board of selectmen is repeating its request to have MassDOT officials come to town to clarify the project time frame.
In May, responding to a request by project opponent David Burns, selectmen as...

ORLEANS — When riders ask Orleans Cycle manager Barry Martin how to get to Chatham, he never suggests the direct route down Route 28.
Martin puts the cyclists on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which runs by his Main Street shop, for the 18-mile journey into Harwich and onto the spur that runs back into Chatham. In an interview last week, he said he's concerned about visitors who are “oblivious” to the reality that...

HARWICH PORT — When renovations are complete, Saquatucket Harbor will be a major attraction for summer visitors. Town officials want to make sure that, for pedestrians coming from the nearby shopping district, it isn't an attractive nuisance.
Coming from the village center, there are sidewalks along Route 28 from the Bank Street intersection to a point just beyond Snow Inn Road, but not quite to the popular ...

CHATHAM — Selectmen Tuesday were given three concepts for rebuilding the busy intersection of Main Street, Crowell Road and Queen Anne Road. But because the first choice made no major changes, and a roundabout was ruled out by engineers, the board chose option three: a wider intersection with new traffic lights and turning lanes on Route 28.
That concept will now begin a lengthy public comment and design proce...

HARWICH — The town has approved a design contract for road improvements along Route 28 from the Herring River Bridge to Upper County Road in Dennis. Selectmen voted to issue the first of a three-phase contract Monday night.
The goal of the project is to create pedestrian connectivity, develop a consistent roadway cross-section, and provide Americans with Disability Act accessibility and bicycle accommodations....